Charging at Campgrounds and RV Parks

[jasonhi]

It's hard to believe I'm sitting here in Centralia,WA charging at 70 amps/210v at a closed restaurant and paying $0 for it on Christmas Eve. Of course they will get my business everytime they are open and I am driving though.

So far so good on my first roadtrip beyond the Roadsters nominal range!

 

[tomsax]

They asked if $2 an hour sounded reasonable. It's a 240V 50A outlet so I guess that sounds ok.

You'll be drawing 40A, so that's 9.6 kW. If your electric rate is $0.10/kWh, that's $0.96 per hour. That's a 100% markup, a good deal for them and a good deal for a Roadster owner in need of a charge.

 

[tomsax]

It's hard to believe I'm sitting here in Centralia,WA charging at 70 amps/210v at a closed restaurant and paying $0 for it on Christmas Eve. Of course they will get my business everytime they are open and I am driving though.

So far so good on my first roadtrip beyond the Roadsters nominal range!

That's a great story: local restaurant allows EV owner to make it home for Christmas. Burgerville rocks!

 

[jasonhi]

That's a great story: local restaurant allows EV owner to make it home for Christmas. Burgerville rocks!

It is a great story! I charged until the current began to taper at about 175 ideal miles (std mode), and headed south. 143 actual miles with 203 ideal in range mode available. As I exited the freeway it went from 25 ideal miles to the "---" unknown range. 4 miles later I am plugged into 120v for the night. Will hook up the 14-50 in the morning.

 

[TEG]

New Profit Center: Recharging Electric Vehicles | Woodall's Campground Management

Current Events: Electric Car Owners Find Juice at RV Parks | Woodall's Campground Management

 

[rsquared99]

Charging at RV Parks

I'm planning a trip toward the end of next month from Arizona to Iowa. (I know, why? It's a family thing.) Anyway, I'm having little success in making email contact with RV parks (mostly the only recharging source in the midwest area) in Gallup NM, the second charging stop on my trip. Has anyone out there dealt with camp sites and the best way to communicate with them? I picked email because it gave me recorded info and allowed me to copy the basic questions from site-to-site as I work my way serially along I-40/I-35. Is phone better for some reason? Thanks.

 

[richkae]

I did a long trip charging at RV parks in 2009. In my experience email was useless and I got no response - using the phone was necessary at almost every park.
To blatantly stereotype the average RV park patron ... I'm too old to use that new-fangled e-mail and internet fad. Now why can't I buy music on cassette tape anymore?

Actually speaking to the person on the other end is also useful so you can hear the tone of their voice. I got a few unfriendly responses from people who didn't understand why I was trying to sully their RV park with my electric car. Hopefully those people are gone or have changed their attitude in the last 2 years.
Mostly the problem was they had no idea what to charge me for a stop that was only a few hours. When they actually saw the Tesla they forgot all their concerns and wanted to put me in a spot where everyone could see the car.
The response from the most of the proprietors and patrons was overwhelmingly positive.

 

[Doug_G]

I am planning to do my first modest road trip next week, an Ottawa to Toronto run of about 450 km. Tesla has arranged for an HPC in Kingston, but it isn't installed yet.

So I emailed the Ganonoque KOA, and they got back to me right away. No problem we've got lots of NEMA 14-50's. The fee for EV charging is $10. There are places to sit and relax, Wifi is available, and the local restaurant is a short walk across the road. Oh and could I please take the owner and his wife for a spin? :biggrin:

Mileage may vary, apparently, but they seemed very keen to have me drop in.

 

[vfx]

... The fee for EV charging is $10....Oh and could I please take the owner and his wife for a spin? ....

Hmmm....

 

[rsquared99]

I got a nearly immediate response to email from the KOA in Flagstaff, all positive info and only a $7.50 charge. But after no answer to two emails over 4 days at the Gallup KOA, I sent email to another RV site near Gallup and again, no response. Maybe some of these sites are run remotely and there is not real on site "service". Of course, both telephone and email work remotely and I think I'm dangerously close to that age group richkae was talking about. I'll try phone contact after the holiday weekend and see how that goes. Maybe it's just Gallup and things will go better after that local. Since I"m trying to stretch the range between sites, I really feel uncomfortable trying to arrange site three until after I've nailed down site two. Thanks for the info.

 

[Doug_G]

Hmmm....

Yes, that was offered.

 

[bolosky]

New Profit Center: Recharging Electric Vehicles | Woodall's Campground Management
Wade Elliott of Preston, Wash.-based Utility Supply Group

I live in Preston, WA about 3/4 of a mile from their address. Preston's tiny, and I had no idea that they were even here. It looks like they're stuck back in the industrial park with the batting cage and trampoline place. How funny, I don't think I've ever heard Preston mentioned anywhere before.

 

[Jaff]

Good stuff Doug...look forward to meeting you on the 8th!

$10 for a charge...It looks like the campground owners are starting to get the EV "potential market" message...remember when Hans visited you when your Roadster was delivered?...as I recall, the KOA charged him a full day camping rate, somewhere around $35-$50 wasn't it?

I am planning to do my first modest road trip next week, an Ottawa to Toronto run of about 450 km. Tesla has arranged for an HPC in Kingston, but it isn't installed yet.

So I emailed the Ganonoque KOA, and they got back to me right away. No problem we've got lots of NEMA 14-50's. The fee for EV charging is $10. There are places to sit and relax, Wifi is available, and the local restaurant is a short walk across the road. Oh and could I please take the owner and his wife for a spin? :biggrin:

Mileage may vary, apparently, but they seemed very keen to have me drop in.

 

[Doug_G]

If I recall correctly, they dinged Hans for $75. On top of that he only put in just enough electrons to get to my HPC, so it wasn't great value for the money. The new rate, though, is fantastic.

 

[rsquared99]

Teg brought up a "Charging the Roadster" topic that seems to deal with this same stuff. but under Tesla Roadster, not under Charging and Chargers. Maybe the monitors should merge these two threads. I didn't look under that main topic before I started this one. Thanks.

 

[Doug_G]

I dunno, some of these threads are pretty darn long. At this this is compartmentalized to a specific (sub?) topic of Charging the Roadster.

 

[bonnie]

I dunno, some of these threads are pretty darn long. At this this is compartmentalized to a specific (sub?) topic of Charging the Roadster.

Agreed. Sometimes I search for a term, then see it's buried somewhere in a thread containing 70+ pages ... and just don't bother sorting through it all. I'd rather have all the RV park posts nicely contained right here.

 

[vfx]

Agreed. Sometimes I search for a term, then see it's buried somewhere in a thread containing 70+ pages ...

True enough. If I search for a word and it shows me a 70 page thread to find the word in...
Is there a way of having the results more refined to specific posts if desired?

 

[doug]

A specific "charging" forum has been long overdue here and anything having to do with charging the Roadster ended up in that so named thread. It's an ongoing project to sift through that thread and split it into specific topic threads as time permits.

Is there a way of having the results more refined to specific posts if desired?

Yes. Play with the options here: Advanced Search - Tesla Motors Club - Enthusiasts & Owners Forum

 

[doug]

Ok... so most of the RV park charging stuff I could find is now merged into this thread.